An Elegy of Candles
by Mercurial Flux
Summary: [ NaruSasu ] Kakashi arrives in time at the Valley of the End, and Naruto struggles to keep his friend from succumbing to darkness.
1. Absolute Silence

**An Elegy of Candles**

_Rating_: PG-13 for the most part, with a few R-rated chapters.

_Pairings_: Naruto x Sasuke. Some light Orochimaru x Sasuke, Shikamaru x Temari, and later implied Lee x Sakura.

_Warnings_: Yaoi, shouta-con, slight non-con, angst.

_Archives_: Livejournal (user: mercurial-flux).

_Summary_: NaruSasu Kakashi arrives in time at the Valley of the End, and Naruto struggles to keep his friend from succumbing to darkness.

_Author's Email_: tsubasa. (Keep flames to the reviews, please.)

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Chapter One: Absolute Silence

"_Absolute silence leads to sadness. It is the image of death_."

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

-----

Kakashi later would admit that he was impressed with how Uchiha Sasuke had handled the immediate consequences of his attempted defection. He stood, with the impermeable grace that only an Uchiha could own, with his hands at his sides and pretty neck proudly arched while looking impassively into the eyes of the Kage of the village he sought to betray. His clothes were clean and immaculate, though his hair was in relative disarray, riddled with dirt and blood, though he still held some untouchable regality about him. His white face was still and unmoving, remarkably attractive even with the bruise that darkened on his cheek, and Kakashi was sure that the beginnings of some plan were formulating behind those frigid eyes. He wasn't sure if Sasuke's stoic silence was meant to insult the Hokage or simply plead apathy, and he chose to believe the former.

"Uchiha Sasuke." Said Uchiha didn't bother to flinch when the Hokage's voice shattered the pregnant silence that preceded it. If anything, his posture seemed to stiffen. His eyes flickered lightly, as if to concede attention. Godaime narrowed her eyes. "What the _hell_ did you think you were doing?"

Another long silence followed.

"I was departing from Konoha." He finally replied, his lips white and thin as he spoke, and Kakashi knew that there was something restless in his demeanor. Now it was his turn to stiffen. For attempting to flee the country in which he was born, only to be stopped by himself and one Uzumaki Naruto, Sasuke put up a startlingly callous exterior.

Kakashi knew that preventing him from leaving Konoha would only serve as yet another blow to the boy's rapidly degenerating ego. But Sasuke had been frighteningly close to achieving his goal; both he and Naruto had taken quite a beating, and the blonde had already elapsed into using the Kyuubi's chakra. If Sasuke's curse seal had activated completely, something dangerous may have happened, either to Sasuke or his rival. Luckily, Kakashi arrived before any such thing could have occurred. He intervened before Sasuke could consider the activation of the seal, and managed to bring him home, but not without momentarily denying the boy consciousness: Kakashi knew that otherwise, Sasuke would have fought to the end.

Naruto had grinned madly as the fox's chakra receded, remnants of tears flowing down his cheeks as he saw Kakashi walk toward the riverbank with a smaller body slung unceremoniously over his shoulder. He had run toward them at first, screaming words of gratitude and admiration and all those impulsive things that sudden mirth brings. But as they made their way back to Konoha, Naruto's grin started to slip away and his brows began to furrow, and Kakashi could tell that his eyes were frequently darting toward his friend's body, as if expecting him to wake up at any moment. He suddenly became pensive, and Kakashi knew that he was mulling over whatever mad proclamations Sasuke had spilled at him during their fight. He chose not to press the matter with the blonde.

Sasuke was still out when they arrived, and Kakashi suggested that both he and Naruto pay a visit to the hospital to make sure nothing was irreversibly damaged during their fight. Naruto agreed, and after his check up, he stayed stubbornly in Sasuke's patient room, sometimes standing next to the window and sometimes pacing, and other times watching the unconscious boy's sleeping face. Kakashi saw some reserved emotion in Naruto's fidgety actions, and he was almost surprised. The boy remained oddly silent and pensive, and Kakashi almost thought he could feel Naruto maturing. It was such a tangible feeling, one that the silver-haired man knew he wouldn't forget, even into his old age.

About forty-five minutes after his arrival in Konoha, Sasuke stirred in his bed. Naruto noticed first, and Kakashi suggested that he leave as to not cause the Uchiha any distress. They argued for a few moments before Naruto conceded, and slipped past the door quietly.

When Sasuke did wake up, he had nothing to say. He stayed almost unnervingly calm, even when the nurses came in to give him some fruit and clean clothes. He took them without complaint, though in such a bleak manner that it stayed even the potentially admiring glances of the nurses that traversed through his room. He made his way to see Tsunade with Kakashi poised behind him, and he remained uncaring as she chastised him in disgust.

Kakashi couldn't help but wonder as to what such a failure did to Sasuke's already broken and bruised mentality. He knew that it couldn't be for the best, but then again, the boy had brought it entirely upon himself. He, as Sasuke's teacher, had watched the boy's sanity slowly degrade along with his confidence and strength, and for some reason, he couldn't find any pity for him. Perhaps this was because he knew that Sasuke didn't want pity, and perhaps it was because of other things.

"Kakashi." The stirringly familiar voice of the Fifth Hokage got through to him the third time she called his name.

The jounin blinked and glanced over at her, his eyelid drooping. "Hmm? Yes?"

"I said that I am requiring that this boy stay under your supervision until further action is determined."

Kakashi blinked again. "Pardon? You want Sasuke to stay with me?" He repeated the question, drawing it out as if to display the command in all it's irrationality to the woman who suggested it.

To his dismay, Tsunade didn't bat an eyelash. "Yes. That's precisely what I've said about three times now, if you were listening." She looked rather weary and irate for some reason, and Kakashi didn't feel like he could protest.

The jounin was speechless. He was never particularly one who was thrilled about having people about his home, especially people who happened to be petulant, fratricidal thirteen-year-olds. However, the look that Tsunade was giving him assured him that the conversation was definitely over. He let his eye drift over toward Sasuke, who was still alarmingly calm in the situation, before turning his attention back to the Hokage. "Ah. We'll be on our way then," He said slowly, his tongue running over the syllables before leaving his mouth. He felt like he was sealing a forbidden deal with the devil. Tsunade nodded and dismissed them, and Kakashi turned toward the black-haired boy before him. "Come, Sasuke," He said, and Sasuke turned and followed him out.

-----

Sasuke opted to remain remote and quiet during his stay with Kakashi. He was embarrassed enough already and there was no need to speak with the man that had caused him such shame by preventing his defection. Thus, his first two days living at Kakashi's home were filled with silence, foiled attempts at fleeing the house, and perhaps some petulant glances that Sasuke couldn't hide. Kakashi himself didn't seem overly thrilled about having a thirteen-year-old boy temporarily living in his home, even if Sasuke spent the majority of his time either holed up in the room that had been given to him or trying to come up with creative ways to escape from said room. This, of course, forced Kakashi to stop him, which just added up to yet another unpleasant thing the jounin wouldn't have had to do if Sasuke weren't there. Thus, the two spent their time thinking wistfully of how they dearly wished the other wasn't there.

In Sasuke's opinion, it was a fairly fitful existence, until on the third day, Kakashi apparently decided that he was feeling particularly talkative. It was breakfast-time, and Sasuke sat at Kakashi's table eating a bowl of rice, while the jounin himself ate elsewhere in the vicinity, his back to the boy. Sasuke admitted some small curiosity that had plagued both him and his teammates at one point, though did not permit himself to look; he knew Kakashi could tell if he did.

"Sasuke, what are you going to do now?"

Kakashi's voice sounded foreign and distant after two days of stillness. Sasuke allowed himself to look over and watch the other's back carefully. He had put his chopsticks down, and his mask was back up, but he remained turned. Sasuke paused for a moment, before deciding that he wasn't going to reply, and turned back to his own food. What did it matter to his ex-sensei what he did? He would do whatever he wanted, damn it, and he sure as hell didn't need to tell Kakashi about it.

"Sakura is apprenticed to Tsunade now," The silver-haired man's voice sounded irritated, but only a little. "And Naruto is going to train with Jiraiya." He got up and turned to him, his eye not as lax as Sasuke previously remembered. Sasuke instinctively let his eyes narrow. "I asked you what you are going to do."

Sasuke felt his lip curl in a sneer. "I'll do whatever the hell I want to do." He replied with his usual arrogance. His words were terse and cursory, and Kakashi's eyelid drooped just a little more.

"If you insist. Bear in mind, however, that the more you dawdle aimlessly like this, the more time you'll have to spend in this house, or if not here, then a correctional facility or even juvenile detainment." The taller man eyed him carefully, as if trying to search for something beyond that fractious nature. Sasuke's eyes only hardened in response, and when he did not react further, Kakashi turned and began to walk to the kitchen, and the Uchiha's gaze followed him.

To Sasuke, it didn't matter how he was confined or kept under control anymore. It wouldn't quell his ambition. He would escape, even if he had to kill to do it. Of course, he had never thought that he would be able to kill Kakashi, but he would sure as hell try if it was called for. He wasn't above that. He wasn't above anything anymore. He had tried to kill his best friend, did he not? What were a few guards or citizens in comparison? If he was going to kill his older brother, who was once the most precious person in the world to him, why should he have reprehensions about killing others?

He could not fear death, neither his own death nor the death of others. He had opted to "sever ties," as he had put it, and he understood that such severing would cause nothing but isolation and emotional distress. But he was willing to feel that pain for the rest of his life, if it just meant he could grasp the goal he tried so hard to reach…

Which was why he decided that going to Orochimaru was a beneficial idea. He knew that he wouldn't be treated very well there, and he knew that he would have to die early; to give up his body to the Sannin in exchange for power. He accepted that fact, because his earthly presence was hardly a price to pay for the strength needed to destroy Uchiha Itachi.

And he craved that strength. He would go to Orochimaru, despite any detainment Konoha tried to impose upon him. He didn't care what Kakashi said. He didn't care what Sakura did or who Naruto trained with. He would leave Konoha to satisfy his quest for power. That was what he would do.

His dark eyes which lay defunct for some days flared at the very thought, right as Kakashi turned his head toward him. Sasuke thought he saw the other raise his eyebrow just slightly. He looked as if he may have thought about saying something, but then opted not to. He turned his masked face away, and nonchalantly, he said, "By the way, Naruto and Sakura mentioned that they were coming to visit today afternoon."

He stiffened. Naruto and Sakura were visiting? What for? Did they simply want to rub it into his face that he had failed, yet again? Sasuke's lips tightened and they were blanched white by now due to the pressure he was exerting between them. Visiting, indeed. His failed defection was nothing but a source of ego-degenerating shame to him, and the last thing he wanted to see was the idiot blonde who had aided in it. And he hated it, and he hated him, and he hated Kakashi, and maybe even Sakura.

Because Uchiha Sasuke had a lot of hatred. His brother was incorrect in saying that he didn't, because at this point, he was consumed by hatred, and maybe jealousy, but he refused to take the latter train of thought further.

Perhaps what unnerved him was that the majority of the hatred he did posess, he found spending on himself. And perhaps it was only necessary; he had, after all, become an utter, worthless failure not even worthy of licking the bottoms of his dead father's shoes. He couldn't kill his brother, even after five years of dedicating himself solely to the purpose. He couldn't surpass Naruto the way he used to; his rival had grown considerably and Sasuke knew that he was being left behind. And to top it all off, he couldn't even leave Konoha to attain the power he needed, because said rival had got in his way and his ex-teacher had shown up and knocked him out.

It was a sad thing, really.

Sasuke pursed his lips, that feeling of utter shame and loathing bubbling up in the depths of his dark soul once more. If Sakura and Naruto wanted to see him, Sasuke would make sure they understood that they were unwanted. He had to make do with what little dignity he had, after all. With that, he rose to his feet and took the empty rice bowl to the kitchen.

-----

Haruno Sakura was, undoubtedly, a female, and thus, was very good at acting cheerful and carefree when happiness was the last thing on her mind. This was one of the times when such a skill came in handy, as she and an unusually uncommunicative Naruto made their way toward Kakashi's home, wherein stayed a presumably disgruntled Uchiha Sasuke. It was she who had suggested it, and shared the idea with Naruto, who had agreed on the basis that their presence would "do the bastard some good." The boy had grinned in his passionate manner when she met up with him on the way to their teacher's home, and he continued to talk rather loudly when necessary as if to make up for the awkwardness of the situation. At the moment, however, he was quieted and thoughtful, and for a moment she forgot how brazen he normally was.

That he had changed was something anyone half-blind could have noticed. Sakura still remembered their estranged relations a year ago; Naruto was as brash as ever and he ranked rather low on the skill level. Though, Team Seven had matured and with it matured Naruto; while he remained short for his age, his power improved steadily, augmented by what seemed like an inability to feel exhaustion. He was still rather immature, as were most boys his age—she would even admit that Sasuke was just as childish as he—but he started to change and especially so with the recent turn of events, just as she had, herself.

Sakura loved Sasuke. It wasn't a puerile crush anymore; she realized that a long time ago. She was in love with him. She sympathized with him, and she wanted nothing more than to cradle his pale, pretty head in her arms and tell him so repeatedly; it had come to the point where she didn't care if he even loved her back, as long as he accepted the fact that she loved him. As time wore on, Sakura began to see sides of Sasuke she never knew existed in the normally clement boy. He was so strong and confident at first, while Naruto was nothing more than a childish loser. Sasuke used to be good at everything, especially compared to dead-last Naruto.

And then Naruto grew, and Sakura had a small, nagging feeling that Sasuke was falling behind.

It didn't deter her love for him at all, of course. She just loved him all the harder when it became increasingly obvious that love was what he needed, and loving him just hurt her more because the more she loved him, the harder he pulled away from both her and Naruto. Sakura knew by now quite well that Sasuke didn't want her love. He didn't want anything other than revenge, and it pained her heart so much to admit it to herself. Even confessing her love to him had resulted in nothing more than an insult, and Sakura could almost hear her heart cracking as he said the words, "You really are annoying." The very condescension in his tone was enough to render her speechless.

She couldn't stop Sasuke from doing what he wanted. She understood then that her love was, to him, something trivial and distracting, something of so little importance that it hardly mattered. She understood then that Sasuke didn't want love, and especially not from her. She understood that the boy she had grown to love had a heart so cold and black that even the warmth of her love wasn't enough to save it.

"Sakura-chan, is that it?" Naruto's stingingly loud voice brought her back from her thoughts. She subsequently turned to the slightly shorter boy beside her.

"What?"

"I asked if that was the house." Naruto pointed to a building not too far off. His face looked full of emotion, and Sakura was more than sure that the huge grin on his face was purely for show.

Sakura checked the street signs and the landmarks Kakashi had given them before nodding. "Looks like it," She said, taking a slow, deep breath. Naruto must have noticed, because his grin only widened.

"I'm sure Sasuke was looking forward to this!" He belted out loudly, and Sakura couldn't help but smile. She knew he was trying to make her feel better, because he thought that she was unaware of the fact that Sasuke probably didn't want to look at their faces again.

Her lips pursed at the realization, and for a moment she regretted wanting to do this. Nevertheless, she made her way alongside her teammate to the home and as they were greeted at the door by Kakashi, Sakura's eyes flew to the couch to the side, wherein sat Sasuke. Disrespectful as always, he didn't walk up to greet them, and instead allowed Kakashi that distinct pleasure.

Sakura watched him, and remembered those dark, almost frightening eyes. Sasuke watched them back, though with a guarded emotion that Sakura herself could not point to. Kakashi smiled at the two of them and told them to enjoy themselves and to ask Sasuke if they needed anything, before scuttling off to another room of the house. Fighting her inhibitions, Sakura smiled brightly at the handsome boy and began to walk toward him, Naruto in tow. "Sasuke-kun!" Her hands were shaking, and she hoped that it wasn't obvious. "It's good to see you're well!"

As expected, Sasuke gave no answer. He watched them quietly and with a fairly unmoving disposition; though Sakura wondered if his eyebrow had just twitched.

"Yeah, bastard," Naruto's voice was unnervingly loud again, and Sakura watched as Sasuke's eyes floated impassively over to the other boy as they both sat down. "We were both wondering as to how you were doing and all."

Sasuke still made no motion to speak, and Sakura pursed her lips. Sasuke was remarkably reserved, as she had thought he would be. He looked the same as ever, almost, though she knew that something inside him had changed. She fought back the urge to frown and maintained a cheery smile on her lips. "Naruto and I were going to buy you something nice to eat before we came," She said, lowering her lashes a little. "But we didn't know what type of sweets you liked best."

"I don't like sugary things." Both seemed startled that he actually responded. Sakura lifted her gaze to meet Sasuke's calm, even one.

"O-Oh," She started to say, flustered. His gaze was penetrating and almost angry.

A long silence followed. Sakura fiddled with the end of her dress, and Naruto found something awfully interesting to gaze at on Kakashi's couch. Sasuke simply stared.

Sakura always thought that Team Seven was an unlikely band of children, people who, under normal circumstances would have never even glanced at each other (with the exception of Sasuke, who it seemed attracted more glances than he cared for). But they had grown together for that one year as teammates and then as friends. She felt that more than anything, now, with Sasuke's failed defection, they were returning back into strangers.

"So, bastard, have you been up to anything over these few days?" Sakura was surprised that Naruto broke the seven-minute silence, and turned to face him. He was a little tight-lipped though Sakura knew he was trying to put everything behind him and move on. Her eyes swept over his childish face, and would have smiled; at least he wasn't about to let such a grudge get in the way of his friendship with Sasuke. Her heart brightened just a little.

Sasuke, however, did not find his attempts as endearing as she did. He simply narrowed his eyes at him. "None of your concern."

Naruto's eyes narrowed as well in reaction. "I was just asking, bastard."

"And I replied."

"What's your problem?" Naruto was on the offensive now; it didn't look like he was feeling overly sympathetic. Sakura cringed inwardly and moved to put a hand on his shoulder to still him, but withdrew her hand when the boy stood up, his body craning toward Sasuke's confrontationally. "I'm trying to be _nice_, damn it, more than an asshole like you deserves!"

"I didn't ask for you to. Don't act so superficial, like a girl."

Sakura wasn't sure if she should have left just then, or if she should have interjected before things got out of hand. Sasuke had always been a little prickly, but it wasn't often that he sounded so serious when he insulted Naruto. At least, back he didn't when the relationship between the two of them was still healthy; when he hadn't wanted to kill him, or anyone else who got in the way of his destructive goal. Sakura opted to remain silent. Unfortunately, Naruto didn't.

The blonde growled a feral growl, his fists clenching once more, and Sasuke looked up at him steadily. Sakura looked around the room, her breath quickening. Where was Kakashi? If another fight broke out between them, Sakura knew she couldn't do anything about it. Her eyes flew back to the dark-haired boy in front of her. She calmed slightly; the persistently impassive look on Sasuke's face indicated that he was not in the mood to fight. She pursed her lips. "Um…let's not fight, you two. Naruto and I just came to visit." Her voice was surprisingly small, and Sakura felt as timid and shy as she once was when she was very young.

Naruto's defensive stance flickered, and he stopped. It did not ease the hurt and offensive look on his face. "It looks like we're not wanted, then, Sakura-chan," He said, and the pain in his voice was evident. "We should leave."

"Glad I made that clear enough." Sasuke watched him with an unwavering gaze. He made no move to stop him. Sakura felt her heart shattering, and her eyes threatening to spill tears that she had tried her best to stay.

"Damn you!" Naruto's voice was loud and clear, and Sakura flinched with the emotion that fluctuated through the words. "Can't you just learn to move on, Sasuke? Forget about what happened at the Valley of the End! Why can't you just forget about it? Why do you have to dwell on things like this? I don't—none of us want to be your enemy!"

Sakura found herself stiffening. Count on Naruto to bring up such a sensitive subject, especially when the moment really didn't call for it. She was almost afraid when she looked to Sasuke's eyes.

There was a cold, burning anger flashing in those still eyes. Sakura was all too aware of the blood pounding in her ears as the other boy stood up.

"Get out." His voice could have frozen the air around him. It was quiet, but it trembled just a little, and Sakura was sure that she had never heard Uchiha Sasuke's voice waver in the way that it did just then.

Quickly, she got up as well, tears stinging the backs of her eyes. She couldn't find herself able to make eye contact. This was a bad idea. Perhaps she should have waited a few weeks instead of a few days to suggest meeting Sasuke once more. She just had hoped that maybe, after he was stopped from defecting, that Sasuke would somehow just see that what he was doing was wrong.

Apparently, nothing of the sort had come even close to transpiring.

"Did something happen?" The poignantly late voice of the adult in the house made itself known as Kakashi walked into the living room, a book pertaining to the _Icha Icha_ series in hand.

His former students could only stare in exasperation, and Kakashi cocked his head mildly, though something about him was quite alert. "Hmm?"

Sakura spoke up finally, after finding her voice. She hoped the tiny waver in her speech would go unnoticed. "Naruto and I were just leaving."

"So soon?" Kakashi asked, his gaze meeting the Uchiha's. Sasuke's lips pursed.

Sakura shot a sideways glance at Naruto, who had his brows furrowed, a frown appearing on his sun-kissed face. Her eyes softened just a little at the sight. She wasn't the only one so stricken by Sasuke's behavior.

Perhaps she could learn something from Naruto. The blonde pestered and bothered and tried and tried until he got what he wanted. Why could she not use the same principles when their wayward teammate was involved? Sasuke would have to change. He couldn't stay the same forever, could he? He couldn't stay immersed in darkness forever; he'd have to find a way out, or else he'd face some painful emotional death. Sakura believed that Sasuke wouldn't allow himself to get caught in a vicious cycle of darkness. There was a part of her that dared to dream that he was strong enough to see what such a thing could do to him.

Or, so she hoped, anyhow.

With that, Sakura looked at Kakashi with slightly drier eyes. There was a lingering sliver of girlish hope burning behind her iridescent eyes. "Yes, we're leaving now. But...we—we'll come back later. Maybe next week, to check on Sasuke-kun." Sakura turned to the dark-haired boy and offered him a smile that he did not return.

Sasuke sat back down, his eyes flashing with apathy, and Sakura began to usher Naruto out of the house, noting the blonde's look of frustration and a melancholy that just didn't sit with his bright eyes and hair and skin. She was a little upset with the other boy for tightening tensions between them, but, as always, it seemed that Naruto had an uncanny knack for speaking out loud what exactly what was on her mind.

She wished Sasuke could move on too. She wished that, just this once, Sasuke would give into his weaknesses and let himself be taken care of.

Sakura, however, was fairly ignorant of Sasuke's mental state. She had hope for Sasuke, who had shunned the selfsame hope she desired to impose upon him. Sakura wished to love him, and, with whimsical passion, felt that love was something that Sasuke would _have _to respond to, for the very reason that it was _love_. She was too childish to understand that love can be beyond a person. She couldn't grasp just yet that Uchiha Sasuke had rejected not only her love, but the love of those around him.

That painful discovery lay for another day. At the moment, with ideals tucked firmly into her mind, she stepped past the door to the outdoors, though not without waving her goodbyes politely. Naruto went with her, and a bleak black gaze followed. She saw, out of the corner of her eye, the ache in written on his face as he let his eyes wander to best friend before they left.

-----

The walk back was oddly uncomfortable for Naruto. In his younger days, he would have leapt for the opportunity to walk Sakura alone to her home, but as he did just that, he found his mind fixated on the dark-haired boy he just left.

Sasuke had responded just the way he had expected him to. He was silent and despondent; at least, more so than usual. He had almost ignored the presence of his teammates, until he was provoked to break the quietness. Naruto was quite surprised with himself that he didn't cry as he spoke those bitter words to him, and especially after he saw the coldness in Sasuke's defensive eyes. But then he noted that Sakura was rather close to spilling over herself, and decided he'd try his best to hold it in for her sake. There was no need to make her sad too; he knew that she still healing from the visceral wounds that Sasuke had inflicted before his defection. He would have plenty of opportunities to mourn the emotional loss of his friend; there was no need to do so in front of Sakura.

Naruto was also aware of how strongly he was letting Sasuke's attempted defection affect him. He felt as if he had said enough and more during his fight with Sasuke at the Valley of the End, and he found himself mulling over the words that his best friend had muttered to him. To Naruto, they were the mumblings of a sociopath, and a part of him was so shocked over what Sasuke had become.

Letting out a slow sigh, quiet enough that Sakura didn't need to hear it, he pressed his lips together a little and allowed a fleeting glance at the kunoichi beside him. She looked as concerned as he did. Naruto bit the inside of his cheek. There was no need to get Sakura down about it. Putting on a bright smile, he turned to the girl.

"Sakura-chan, want to go to lunch with me?"

Sakura blinked and glanced over at the boy beside her. Naruto saw the corners of her mouth twitch as she expectedly rolled her eyes. "No." She gave him the answer she always did, and the answer he expected.

"Just this once?" His smile broadened, though his brows remained furrowed.

Sakura simply sighed a little and looked aside, not answering. Naruto's grin faded a little. The blonde lowered his gaze. "Sakura-chan, are you still thinking about Sasuke?"

A nod proved him right.

"He'll come around, I'm sure of it. Even if he doesn't want to, he has to, because I'll make him." Naruto wasn't sure if he was assuring himself or Sakura, and decided that it was probably both.

His efforts were rewarded by a smile from Sakura. "I know, Naruto," She said, her voice unusually soft. "He has to come back to us. I—we love him."

Naruto felt warmth rising to his cheeks, but managed a nod. "Yeah," He said slowly, "We do."

A comfortable silence passed between the two friends for a while as they walked toward Sakura's home. It was a lovely late summer day, with the trees still startlingly bright and the sun mellowing into an autumn glow.

"Though—Naruto." Sakura's voice pierced the unspoken words between them. "I wish you hadn't said all that back there to him."

Naruto looked over at her, and blinked twice before he understood what she was referring to: his little outburst about moving on. "Oh," He managed sheepishly, "Yeah. I wish I hadn't said it too."

Naruto realized that he shouldn't have said it right after he did; he wasn't thinking and he was just so upset at the cold way Sasuke was treating him after he and the other ninja of Konoha put their effort into searching for him. He was upset at the way he was treating Sakura, who truly loved him in the way he wished she loved _him_. Sasuke had such a generous life waiting for him, and he chose to shun it all.

His gaze lifted toward Sakura, who was eyeing the path ahead of them with a detached concern. Her eyes were clouded and her eyelids lowered. Some part of her looked vaguely troubled.

"Something else the matter, Sakura-chan?" He asked.

Sakura paused a little before answering, "No." She paused another moment before going back to her statement, her gaze still locked on the ground ahead of them. "Actually…I was wondering…what exactly happened between you two at the Valley of the End? Did Sasuke-kun offer an explanation at all?" Her eyes remained locked below her.

Naruto hesitated. He bit his lip a little as he let his eyes fall from her face as she asked; it was the one question he had hoped to avoid from her.

The memories of what happened between himself and Sasuke at the Valley were ones that he had mulled over so much that the images were like a videotape running from one dirty panel to the next. The words that were spoken seemed amplified in his mind. Sasuke had told him that Naruto was his best friend; he had subsequently said that because of that, it was worth killing him. Sasuke had told him that he didn't care about anyone anymore, including him. Sasuke had told him so many things that Naruto wished he never had.

He felt Sakura's gaze heavy on his face, and Naruto's mouth began to open. Just as quickly, he felt it shut.

"Naruto?"

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan." Naruto's voice was slightly downcast and serious. "I…I'll tell you later."

Sakura blinked. "Why? Did something…bad happen?"

"Well…it's just that…Sasuke said a lot of things. You probably don't want to hear it just yet."

Naruto knew that what Sasuke had said to him at the Valley wouldn't do a thing to ease Sakura's pain over what her love had become. He knew it would do nothing but sadden her further, and he did not want that. Sakura was his teammate, as Sasuke was, and he wouldn't cause her unnecessary pain. He would tell her when it was right to tell her. Ideally, it would be some day in the future when he and she and Sasuke were all friends again, taking a lunch break together and laughing about what an idiot their dark-haired friend was being when he had decided to go off to Orochimaru.

Of course, Sasuke had a tendency to shatter ideals, and Naruto could only hope.

As expected when she was not given an appropriate explanation, Sakura was a little indignant, her brows furrowing a little. "We're all teammates, Naruto. Tell me."

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan." He looked at her with a cheerless face and she calmed. "I promise I'll tell you some other time. Not just yet. I'll tell you when Sasuke isn't being such a fucking ass."

Sakura paused for a moment, letting out a small sigh of consent, and offered her teammate a smile, friendship warming her face. "And when is that going to happen, if it ever has?"

Naruto couldn't help but grin and offer a small chuckle, though nostalgic longing was imbedded within his features. "I don't know. Probably never."

Sakura smiled fleetingly and the two continued on in silence.

-----

After the ordeal with Sakura and Naruto, Kakashi's home was filled with awkward silences that had started become quite normal.

For the next few days, Kakashi flitted about the home, usually seen with some _Icha Icha _book clutched between his long, spidery fingers, while Sasuke pouted about in his room.

The jounin's mind was, however, far from the tantalizing scenes playing out in the books before him, and rather, found himself quite annoyed. It figured that Sasuke would have to be a complete bitch about the fact that Naruto and Sakura visited. He had known even while Sakura had asked him that it would be this way, but the sincerely upset, wide-eyed look on the kunoichi's face as she asked just made it impossible for him to disagree. In the end, however, he knew that allowing this to happen fell into one of his worse judgments.

Not to mention, Sasuke himself was starting to become a bother. He was always brooding, and when he wasn't doing that he was somehow trying to tear down the house in effort to escape. His windows had especially taken quite a beating. It was really quite inconvenient.

And so, when he got that one call to go to the Godaime's office, he dared to hope that she would hold the precious key to putting the both of them out of their miseries soon enough.

And when he came back to his home, Kakashi found himself in an awfully chipper mood. His mood simply rose even more when he made his way to Sasuke's door and knocked with a silly little simper unfolding under his mask.

The petulant adolescent opened the door after a long pause meant to deter the older man from speaking with him. Unfortunately, said pause only made Kakashi's smile turn into a full-fledged grin.

Sasuke finally slid open the door and eyed the older with annoyed eyes.

"Yes?"

Kakashi simpered. "I have a mission."

"What?"

Kakashi could have chucked with some petty malice at the way the Uchiha's dead eyes brightened just a little; bless the boy! Sasuke thought it meant he'd be staying in his home alone.

"I have a mission. This means that I won't be here to supervise you for an extended period of time." Of course, Kakashi left out the dangling bit at the end that was left unsaid: "And bless your naïve, sociopathic soul if you think I'll let you stay in my home by yourself."

Sasuke simply looked at him, as if expecting him to continue.

"So," Kakashi humored him, "Since that's the case, how would you like to spend a few days living with your best friend, Naruto?"

Sasuke's eyes flashed dangerously and narrowed, and Kakashi noticed how his shoulders stiffened. "Fuck no," He scowled and cocked his head; he was being rather defensive. However, Kakashi simply smiled, and almost felt a guilty pleasure as he responded.

"It's settled, then. Do pack your things by the day after, Sasuke-kun."

He took a fleeting glance of Sasuke's cold indignant face as he slid the door back closed without another word.

-----

A/N: Wow. I need a beta. .


	2. Fear and Love

**An Elegy of Candles**

_Rating_: PG-13 for the most part, with a few R-rated chapters.  
_Pairings_: Naruto x Sasuke. Some light Orochimaru x Sasuke, Shikamaru x Temari, and later implied Lee x Sakura.  
_Warnings_: Yaoi, shouta-con, slight non-con, angst.  
_Archives_: Livejournal (user: mercurial-flux).  
_Summary_: NaruSasu Kakashi arrives in time at the Valley of the End, and Naruto struggles to keep his friend from succumbing to darkness.  
_Author's Email_: tsubasa. (Keep flames to the reviews, please.)

-----

Chapter Two: Fear and Love

"_It is much more secure to be feared than loved_."

Niccolò Machiavelli

-----

Sasuke was pouting, and he knew it. In his defense, however, it was a refined pout, with his bottom lip protruding a just little, his brows furrowing delicately and his eyes flashing annoyance. It certainly wasn't helping his irritation that a certain silver-haired ex-teacher of his was walking a little ahead of him, the happy curve of his visible eye exuding cheer. Sasuke had two packed bags in his hands; one was filled with clothes and the other with personal paraphernalia. Kakashi had even been kind enough to offer to hold some of his things for him as they left his home. As a response, Sasuke would have loved to hit him with the luggage, but thought better of it; he doubted he could land a hit, anyhow.

The long trek to Naruto's apartment was a fairly uncomfortable one, though Sasuke got the feeling that Kakashi was unperturbed, and, rather, enthused in some malicious way. The boy couldn't help but scowl; he felt as if he was a burden to be passed around from one person to another. It made him feel useless, helpless and secondary. He had felt like that before, when he was very young, and he did not like feeling it again. He lowered his eyes.

"Sasuke, if you want, I'll hold at least one of your bags." Kakashi's voice was calm and mellow and for some reason, Sasuke despised it.

"I can handle them myself." Sasuke uttered the words through gritted teeth.

"Of course, of course."

The two continued in silence for a while. Kakashi's eye was open and perfectly circular now, and Sasuke's remained lit in irritation.

Needless to say, Sasuke wasn't particularly thrilled about staying with Naruto. Their previous encounter had been just a little awkward and angry; Naruto had gone on about how Sasuke needed to move on, and Sasuke retaliated coldly and demanded that he and Sakura to leave. He was humiliated. Who was that idiot boy to tell him what he should forget and remember? "Just forget about it," he had said, referring to the beginnings of their climactic fight at the Valley of the End, and Sasuke was furious. He couldn't forget. He never forgot anything.

Not to mention, Naruto was, unfortunately, much more talkative than Kakashi. Sasuke's expression darkened; he knew that the blonde would press him to speak more about his actions as of late and ask why, how, who, and what propelled him to try to leave Konoha.

Sasuke certainly would never admit that a part of it had to do with the blonde himself. Not even to his own person; the remnants of his shattered pride simply wouldn't allow it.

Walking the rest of the way in silence, Sasuke and Kakashi made their way up a flight of stairs to where Naruto took residence. Kakashi had mentioned before they left that he had called up the blonde and asked if this was alright; the shorter boy apparently had no problem with it. Sasuke's face fell dark. What was Naruto thinking?

"Now, now, Sasuke-kun," Kakashi turned to him and smiled cheerfully after he knocked on the door. "Don't be so grim."

Sasuke only frowned deeper in retaliation.

Kakashi sighed in what could have been exasperation as the door slid open and the two were met by a tousle of blonde hair and a sunkissed face. Naruto seemed as cheerful as always, the obnoxiously large grin painted onto his face.

"Sasuke! Kakashi-sensei! Come in!" His voice was as uplifted and excited as he sounded most of the time; Sasuke's brows furrowed since he had expected him to be at least a little more somber after everything that had happened between them. But Naruto seemed unaffected. He had that uncanny ability to stick to someone like something beyond glue; Naruto remained steadfastly Sasuke's friend, and it didn't seem that anything would dissuade him.

Sasuke stayed where he was even after he was invited in; he wouldn't step a foot inside that apartment until he was told twice, or maybe threatened. Kakashi did the same, though did so with a charming expression on the visible quarter of his face.

"Actually, Naruto," Kakashi started, looking cheerier than Sasuke would have liked, "I'm afraid I can't join you two at the moment. My team and I—for the mission—were going to meet up somewhere to…discuss our…plan." Sasuke felt his left eye twitch just slightly. "So I'd better get going then." The Uchiha could almost feel the strength of his ex-teacher's smile beating against the side of his face.

"Eh?" Naruto started, an eyebrow raising in incredulity, but he was cut off.

"Good." Kakashi smiled, responding before anything else could be said, and put a hand to the side of his forehead, reminiscent of a salute. "I'll be going then. Have fun, you two. Take care of Sasuke, Naruto."

Naruto grinned, and Sasuke thought that the other boy's face was a little pinker than usual. "Yes, Kakashi-sensei!"

Sasuke sighed and turned to face the shorter boy before him with a steely expression, to which Naruto didn't respond. He moved aside and motioned for Sasuke to come in. He had a smile on his face, though Sasuke could tell that it was forced: his brows were furrowed and his jaw was clenched. The Uchiha almost felt degraded by the very fact that the other was _trying _to treat him the way he used to. It was almost as if he was refusing to realize how he had changed. Anger and pride stirred within him and he stepped inside.

-----

Naruto was a little annoyed as Sasuke took a graceful step into his home, largely with the way his friend carried himself. The Uchiha looked irate and his almond eyes were filled with some disdain that the blonde decided he didn't want to comprehend. Nevertheless, he tried to be civil, at least for the time being. It wasn't really like him to bother putting up a front, but a part of him wanted to avoid another confrontation between the two. There had been enough confronting going on between them already, and Naruto didn't want to end up in another tiff with the other boy. He was just here to stay for a while. Just for a while.

"So," Naruto broke the air of uncomfortable quietness that surrounded the two. "I don't really have a lot of space in my apartment. But I do have a small guest room, and you can stay there."

Sasuke didn't respond, and his face was turned away, his eyes fluttering disparagingly over the messy couch. Naruto was still annoyed.

"What are you staring at?" The blonde snapped in irritation.

Sasuke's eyes had drifted away from the couch, to the food-stained table. He turned to the blonde, his voice condescending. "It's a pigsty in here."

Naruto scowled. "Well, get used to it! It's not that messy!"

The Uchiha's lip curled in a sneer. "Well, they always did say that the condition of the person's surroundings reflects on the person."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Sasuke simply shrugged. "Figure it out."

Naruto growled in a feral manner, his eyebrows knitted together. "Don't be a smartass, Sasuke!"

It seemed that Sasuke had decided not to dignify that with a direct answer, since he remained quiet as he picked up his bags again.

"Shut up and show me my room." He watched the other derisively, and Naruto scowled.

"Alright, bastard."

Naruto's clear eyes shone through with disgruntlement as he started to walk toward a door close to the main room, with Sasuke in tow. For some reason, the blonde felt a little uncomfortable with the dark-haired boy standing behind him; perhaps because he was half-expecting the other to attempt to kill him at any given instant. But he didn't dare turn back to see. He wouldn't let Sasuke intimidate him. He doubted he even _could_ intimidate him anymore.

It pained Naruto to admit it to himself, but Sasuke wasn't the same. Or maybe he had always been this way, and he had never noticed it. Either way, the boy behind him was now a complete stranger to him; he was dark and hostile, and Naruto had a stirring feeling in his gut that Sasuke wasn't quite _sane_ anymore. Because lately, everything was about being better than everyone else. Everything was about power, and hatred, and all those derogatory things that spewed out from between the dark-haired boy's perfect white lips. Naruto wasn't sure where it came from all of a sudden or why, but it hurt him to see his best friend so buried underneath all the black things in the world.

He pushed aside the door to reveal a rather small room, with light blue walls and a single rectangular window peering out into the busy streets of Konoha below. It was not decorated, but it was in considerably less disarray than the rest of the house, and Naruto saw Sasuke's scrutinizing eye watch every little corner as if to make sure that the room was acceptable.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "So? Do you want it or do you plan to camp out in front of the apartment door?"

Sasuke's glare was decisive as he put his bags down inside the room and slid the door shut in the other's face. Naruto growled, mumbling rather loudly about ungratefulness before turning on his heels. How Sakura put up with Sasuke was a divine mystery; living with the other boy was going to take a lot more patience than he initially suspected.

-----

Two shadows fell along the stone walls and candlelight flickered alluringly, piercing the small room with light. It was nighttime and most of the town was asleep, though deep in the hollows of the Sound, Yakushi Kabuto and his master were awake. They sat still, the silver-haired man with his perfectly round bifocals glimmering with the light reflected off them, watching the older man in the room. Orochimaru watched him expectantly. Kabuto lowered his eyes, though not from fear.

"Uchiha was stopped. He couldn't leave." The younger man's voice was clear and unwavering.

"Was he stopped?" Came the soft, fluttering reply.

"Yes. He was stopped at the Valley of the End by his former comrades."

Orochimaru's thin lips curled upwards. "By his former comrades? Sasuke-kun couldn't even escape them of all people?"

"It appears not."

The Sannin looked thoughtful. He looked intimidating in the candlelight, having just switched bodies; his face wasn't smooth and white as it was, and rather, his skin was peeling at the edges like old paint on a drywall. Kabuto thought it was rather disgusting, but was no longer affected by it the way he used to be.

Orochimaru finally spoke, and his voice was still rather fragile. "Regardless, we cannot let him assume that I have lost interest in him."

Kabuto looked up into the Sannin's eye, his unsaid question dancing between the two.

The older man's eyebrow cocked. "I have said, Kabuto, that my destiny is in that boy. I will have his body, and with it, his eyes."

Kabuto's eyes slowly peered up toward the other; he would admit that hearing such words out of the Sannin was just a little strange. Orochimaru was and had always been a practical, methodical person, hardly one for moral excesses, but the way he spoke about the Uchiha boy was slightly disconcerting. It reminded him almost of the older man's previous fondness of Kimimaro. Regardless, he nodded. "How will you let him know that you haven't given up on him, Orochimaru-sama?"

The Sannin paused, his withering skin shuddering a little with movement as he tilted his head to one side. A long silence passed between them, and Kabuto's eyes were bleak and dark as he watched the other until he was ready to speak. Finally, he did.

"Send out two new recruits to attack one or more of Sasuke-kun's comrades."

Kabuto blinked. "Pardon?"

"You heard what I said, Kabuto." Orochimaru simpered. "Make sure they are wearing their forehead protectors."

"I'm sure you realize that most of our new recruits are…rather deficient in skill? I doubt they could take out any of Uchiha's comrades."

"I am perfectly aware of that, Kabuto."

Kabuto's lips remained pursed as he watched Orochimaru through beady eyes. He could never understand him. He was so inhuman that it was hard to wrap a mind around whatever grandiose plans he had in the making. The Sannin was quite pragmatic and thoughtful, spending a lot of time sitting quietly and thinking to himself over a cup of warm tea. He was always thinking about something, and he always had an idea for everything.

This was hardly any different. Ever since he had discovered that Uchiha Itachi had a considerably more impressionable younger brother, Orochimaru had been thinking and plotting especially how to gain the boy in order to use his precious eyes. And of course, even Kabuto himself couldn't deny the fact that Sasuke was surprisingly beautiful, even for a boy his age. Perhaps Orochimaru craved that beauty as well.

Whatever the Sannin had in mind, Kabuto decided that he would do. He was not particularly loyal to Orochimaru, nor was he particularly sympathetic to Konoha. For the moment, he would do as he was told, if only to see how everything would end.

After a few moments of his own thinking, Kabuto got up, bowed, and made his way to the door.

"It will be done, Orochimaru-sama." He heard himself say.

"Good." The older man replied calmly. "Look to it, then."

Kabuto nodded, slid open the door and slipped outside. The candlelight reflecting back against Orochimaru's peeling skin was the last thing he saw before it slid shut once more.

-----

Naruto felt a pair of dark eyes burning through the early-morning adornment perched atop his messy blonde hair.

He and Sasuke sat at the dining table at about eight o'clock in the morning, eating their breakfast. Of course, eight was far, far too early for the blonde; it was Saturday and he was far more used to getting up at around one, or two, or three. Eight was horrible. Inhuman, almost. But the _bastard_ had woken up at six, and had made his way into the kitchen, where he began to steam some rice and make all sorts of clamoring noises in the process of doing so. Naruto had awoken and had no choice but to eat breakfast when it was made.

"What the hell are you looking at?" Naruto turned sleepy eyes to Sasuke's alert ones.

Sasuke simply gave him another one of his condescending looks. "Your _hat_, dumbass."

Naruto simply grinned. "My nightcap? I like it. It suits someone as cute as me."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "It enhances your idiocy, if that's what you mean."

"You're just jealous that you're not this adorable."

"Tell that to Sakura and Ino."

Naruto's eyebrows furrowed. "That's just for now. Wait till I get older. I'll be one sexy bastard." He grinned cheekily. "And you'll end up a pretty boy like your brother."

Sasuke's eyes darkened and Naruto immediately wished he had left the last bit of his statement out. He waved a hand, as if to take back the statement and placate the Uchiha. "Or maybe not. Pass the rice."

Sasuke simply shot the other a dark look, before pushing out of the chair and standing up. "Get it yourself. I'm going for a walk."

Naruto scowled a little, getting up as well. "Hey, you can't do that. I have to go with you."

"Said who?" Sasuke's eyes flashed darkly.

"Kakashi-sensei."

"Fuck him."

"Sasuke," Naruto started, his face sobering. "I'm coming with you. I don't want you to do anything reckless. I won't let you."

"I don't care what you want." Sasuke's lips were curled in an all-too-familiar sneer.

Naruto frowned. "If you go off on your own, I have to alert the ANBU. It's either them or me, Sasuke."

Sasuke's white face was somber, his shapely eyes narrowed. When he did not receive an answer, Naruto cautiously slipped into his bedroom to change into his usual day clothes. He had figured that usually when Sasuke was silent in response to a question, it either meant that he felt that he was above conversing with someone or that he was forced to acknowledge something that he did not want to. Naruto assumed that this was a case of the latter.

They left the apartment complex together, Sasuke walking a little ahead of Naruto. The dark-haired boy's face was drawn into a serious expression, as always, and Naruto kept tossing tiny little glances at the other. He tried to stop doing so, since Sasuke had noticed and tossed him a glare after the third or so, but he was feeling far too conscious and exposed; perhaps not physically.

Sasuke's "walk" was, as Naruto learned, uncannily similar to a brooding session combined with aerobic exercise. Sasuke didn't really glance at his surroundings; his gaze seemed to be fixed on a point about six feet in front of him. His brows were furrowed and his jaw was clenched. Naruto knew he was thinking, but of what, he couldn't touch.

Watching Sasuke brood was amusing for the first ten or so minutes. Fifteen minutes after their walk had begun, Naruto began to get bored. He was restless, looking around rather impatiently while his companion remained focused on something abstract. It was rather unnerving and awkward.

Time passed, and Naruto began to vaguely regret his responsibilities as Sasuke's temporary caretaker. He was a thirteen-year-old boy, regardless of everything that had happened, and he was immeasurably bored. Though there was something undeniably comforting about Sasuke's presence there, next to him, close to him. Naruto let out a small sigh.

"Naruto!"

Something broke his train of thoughts. He looked up to see some familiar faces up ahead; Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino were walking up toward them. Apparently, Sasuke must have noticed as well, since Naruto saw his head shoot up for a moment before abruptly turning to the side.

"Shikamaru! Chouji, Ino!" Naruto waved back and grinned. He was relieved; at least there was some distraction from Sasuke's taciturn nature. A small glance to the side proved that the darker-haired boy was looking rather irate.

Shikamaru made his way toward them, and Naruto smiled. However, the Nara's eyes fell upon Sasuke, and his brow twitched. For a moment, Naruto thought that Sasuke's gaze fell a little more. Chouji followed as did Ino, though the blonde girl had not yet attached herself to Sasuke's arm. They were all behaving differently around him, and Naruto almost felt the awkwardness his friend was bound to be feeling.

"How are your wounds, Chouji?" Naruto asked, deciding to pull on a grin, as if to deflect any of the other three's tense emotions from Sasuke.

Chouji nodded, his mouth littered with potato chip flakes. "They're healing. I'm feeling a lot better."

Naruto smiled in his boyish manner. "That's good. I think Sakura-chan was asking about you two."

Shikamaru nodded as well, his voice drawling. "Yeah, we're both doing fine. Nothing to worry about."

The four remained silent, and Naruto knew what was going on in the other three's minds, and he knew that all their mental gazes were on Sasuke's arrogant face. It was Ino who butted in at that moment, and as expected, she pointed at the metaphorical elephant in the room between them. "How's Sasuke-kun doing?" Her gaze was sincere as it grazed over the attractive, quiet boy beside him.

Shikamaru's head jerked a little in Sasuke's direction. Chouji stopped eating for a moment as if to listen for an answer. Naruto hesitated, waiting for the other boy to answer. When he did not, Naruto spoke for him: "Sasuke's fine. He's staying with me for a little while until Kakashi-sensei gets back from his mission."

"That's good to hear!" Ino smiled, and Naruto fought the impulse to frown. Shikamaru and Chouji remained silent, and Naruto thought he saw Sasuke's head droop a little. "If Sasuke-kun needs anything," she started to say, her gaze still falling on the Uchiha's face, as if asking him to look at her, "he can come see any of us if you're not there. We'd be more than happy to take care of him for a while."

Naruto grinned. "Y-Yeah." He hesitated, and an awkward silence filled the space between them. He knew that Sasuke would never allow himself to be 'taken care of,' as Ino put it. He didn't do well in captivity.

"W-Well, anyway," Naruto started again, trying to get the attention off his wayward friend, "what were you three up to?"

"We were going to see the three from Suna." Shikamaru answered, his hands in his pockets. "They're leaving soon, but we thought we should give them our thanks before they do."

Naruto nodded. "Oh, right! When are they leaving?"

"Tomorrow, sometime." Chouji answered, after swallowing a mouthful of chips.

"Around noon." Shikamaru elaborated.

"Oh, alright," Naruto started, "I'll come out with you then. I'd like to give them my thanks as well."

Shikamaru nodded. "That's fine. I suppose we'll be out by the gates." He turned his head to the side as he casually glanced at his surroundings, and Naruto grinned.

"Yeah, so I'll see you then."

"Yeah." The brunette nodded. "So we'll get going then. We told them we'd visit at around one, and we're already five minutes late."

"You're always, late, Shikamaru!" Ino rolled her eyes at her teammate's comment, crossing her arms. "It's nothing new at all."

Shikamaru shrugged in his nonchalant fashion. "Whatever." He glanced at Naruto. "I guess we'll get going. See you later, Naruto. Sasuke."

Sasuke blinked when his name was mentioned, but made no move to acknowledge the other. Naruto pursed his lips. After everything that Shikamaru and Chouji and Ino had done for him, couldn't he be just a little more grateful? Did he just have to act so proud and arrogant all the time?

Team Ten made its way past him and his aloof companion, and Naruto shot Sasuke an emotional glance just as he started walking once more. "You know that Shikamaru and Chouji were a part of your retrieval team."

Sasuke shrugged.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He was annoyed and irate, and he wished so dearly that Sasuke would stop being so proud for once.

At that point, the Uchiha turned and started walking back to Naruto's apartment. Naruto himself didn't notice as he followed him, since he was too filled with heat and anger from Sasuke's cold apathy.

"It's supposed to mean that I don't care." Sasuke finally responded, and tossed Naruto a glare, before turning his head back ahead and down. "It means that I don't care what relation they had to my previous activities."

Naruto opened his mouth and closed it once more. He had thought that perhaps Sasuke could at least find it in himself to be angry at Shikamaru and Chouji for stopping him before he went to Orochimaru. Apparently, the dark-haired boy couldn't even find it in himself to feel that. Naruto wasn't sure whether he felt hurt or betrayed by his friend's lack of emotion.

The walk back was quiet; Sasuke was still and reserved as always. Surprisingly, Naruto was as well. His friend's reactions were eating at him. Even more so, he couldn't understand _why_ Sasuke was acting in such a way. He was no longer the strong, confident adolescent he once knew. He was weakening in spirit, and Naruto knew that he was making himself suffer inside. What he didn't know was _why_.

Naruto himself had always been a particularly optimistic person. He was always upbeat and he never let himself get down on anything, because in the end, he would triumph. It was just a fact of life. He was zealous without being too cocky; he worked hard to achieve the goals he wanted to. Whereas Sasuke, on the contrary, didn't seem to have that endless supply of diligence, and it unnerved Naruto to no end how his best friend could just give up on himself so easily. He simply couldn't wrap his mind around how Sasuke could so freely leave Konoha to seek power through alternative means. It made no sense to him. The only conclusion to be drawn from these actions was that Sasuke was a coward, and Naruto refused to believe that, because Sasuke was his best friend.

He tossed a glance to the boy beside him, and felt his lips pressing into a frown. Sasuke had always been perfect. Not only was he a prodigy, he was beautiful. Naruto had always known that. His skin was delicate and pale, his eyes dark and lustrous and seductively almond. His hair was perfectly settled atop his head, reflecting blue sometimes in the sunlight. Naruto could almost accept why the girls of Konoha were so entranced by him. He was the epitome of attractiveness. He was sublime in beauty.

Sasuke had always been despondent as well. When they first started at the Academy, Sasuke had been quiet, and surprisingly adept at just about everything. The girls swooned over him from a very young age, but he ignored them all. He seemed so strong then, because he could do everything, and did it with style. And Naruto knew he had tried his hardest for it; he would come across the Uchiha practicing with his shuriken during break times.

He would have never guessed that Sasuke would ever turn out the way he did.

"Hey. Sasuke." Naruto glanced sideways at his friend as he reached into his pocket for the key to his apartment door as they finally came back, before jamming the key into the keyhole. When Sasuke didn't answer, he pushed the door open and walked inside, Sasuke in tow. "I want to ask you something."

He pushed the door closed and glanced back to watch the Uchiha walk toward his room. Naruto scowled. "Asshole! I said I was going to ask you something."

Sasuke didn't even turn around. "Then ask me, idiot."

Naruto softened a little and paused, hesitating. "W-Well—I was just thinking…" he started to talk, and felt heat rising to his face. "Sasuke. Why—what made you go to Orochimaru?"

Silence dropped between them. Sasuke paused for a moment, and kept on walking.

Naruto growled and took an aggressive step toward his friend's back. "Sasuke! I asked you a question!"

The Uchiha simply turned his graceful head and gave Naruto a sneer that almost made his self-worth flicker. "Fuck off."

Some anger flared inside Naruto at those words. Fuck off, he said? Fuck off? Never. He would _never_ fuck off, if it would make Sasuke do such things as he had been as of late. He never would, if it meant that Sasuke wouldn't give his body up to Orochimaru.

"I _won't_!" He yelled, his clear eyes clouding with rage and grief. "Why won't you answer the damn question? Are you too afraid of the answer? Is that it, Sasuke?"

That made the other boy turn around completely to face him. His shoulders were relaxed and there was some lax emotion on his face. Naruto waited for the answer, his body leaning forward and his fists clenched.

"That's not it, Naruto." His voice finally came, deep and quiet. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Just shut up for once in your fucking life and let me be."

Before Naruto could stop himself, he had lunged forward, his hands gripping the other's shoulders in anger, shoving him backward and knocking him off his feet, pressing his back against the wall. Naruto himself fell down with him, his knees scraping against the floor as he held the Uchiha in place.

"Don't tell me to leave you alone, Sasuke, not after all this!" His voice was loud and it irritated him how Sasuke's expression remained the same. He knew the other's shoulders probably hurt from being shoved up so angrily against the wall, though he couldn't bring himself to care. "Damn it, Sasuke, you're so fucking stupid, you know that? Everyone knows you're an excellent ninja. Everyone in Konoha acknowledges your talent! Why would you just ignore all that?"

Sasuke's expression simply darkened, his dark eyes dulling. "Konoha's acknowledgement hasn't gotten me any closer to my goals."

"There are other ways to achieve your goal than to just go throw yourself into darkness, you idiot!" Naruto noted the hint of desperation in his voice, and it made him cringe, almost. "Your brother just isn't worth all this!"

Sasuke's eyes flared and widened as he lifted his head to meet the eyes of his friend. Naruto was slightly taken aback: there was life in those eyes again. When he spoke, his voice was loud, clear, and violent. "What the hell would you know about it?" His voice rose as a hand came around to grip Naruto's collar. "You don't understand what this is about! You don't understand what is between that man and I!"

Naruto couldn't bring himself to speak for a moment at the anger that was in Sasuke's eyes. There was hatred and dead ambition floating in the deep abyss held there, and the blonde boy's gaze softened.

"Yeah, I don't know." He admitted softly, his eyes locking with the other boy's darker ones. "But…I do know what's between us, Sasuke. Between you, and me, and Sakura, and Kakashi-sensei. And that's the most precious thing in the world to me right now."

Sasuke's dark gaze did not change. He simply glanced up with some disturbing mix of apathy and slow-spreading anger. "Then I will take that precious thing from you, Naruto, if that's what it takes in order to kill him."

"You bastard!" Naruto felt a sting at the back of his eyes, and his voice sounded strained from the lump in his throat. How could Sasuke say such a thing? Moreover, how could he say it so emotionlessly? Naruto felt his heart hurt, and he tightened his grip on Sasuke's shoulders, leaning into his face with closed eyes that threatened to spill over.

"How can you say that?" His voice was trembling, and Naruto couldn't bring himself to care for dignity in front of Sasuke's emotionless gaze. "How can you say that to my face, Sasuke? After everything we've done this past year?"

Naruto opened his eyes, and what greeted him was a pair of cold eyes. He felt a wave of tears slip down his marked cheeks and Sasuke's velvety voice resounded once more.

"Don't get so close to my face."

"Fuck you, I will!" he did so, as two tears slipped down his face and dripped onto Sasuke's shirt.

Naruto thought that, for a brief moment, if he looked deep enough into those dusky eyes, he could see a part of Sasuke that was crying too. Without thinking, a hand reached out to touch the cheek where Sasuke's imaginary tear would have been, and before Sasuke could flinch and move away, and before he himself could stop to think about what would have been the more reasonable thing to do, Naruto leaned forward, close enough to bump his lips against the soft white flesh of Sasuke's mouth.

A part of the blonde was surprised that his porcelain skin was so warm. His heart overflowed and he pressed those lips harder, and he could feel Sasuke's displeasure seep through his skin as the other boy's lithe fingers tightened dangerously around either arm. Sasuke made a protesting, indignant noise in the back of his throat and Naruto thought it was so, so erotic.

He wanted to pry that mouth open and taste the defiant boy from the inside; to make him succumb to the desire to be loved and cherished, and remove his defenses against the pressure of friendship. He pushed his lips harder against his wan mouth, and started a bit when he felt teeth clamp down on his bottom lip. Something coppery and nauseating dripped onto his tongue and he felt Sasuke moving; the next feeling he was acutely aware of was the thud of the back of his head against the same wall, and a lack of air in his lungs as he felt a knee connect with his abdomen.

The warmth of Sasuke's body was removed and Naruto peered upward to see Sasuke standing, some cold look in his eyes and the stark comparison of blood on his lips and the white of his cheek.

Naruto's abdomen still ached and his breaths came shallow still as he looked up into those still, dark eyes. He waited for the harsh words, or perhaps more physicality, the self-defensive things he was so used to from his friend.

Instead, Sasuke turned from him and walked away.

Naruto felt a pang inside him somewhere when he felt the door to Sasuke's room click closed.


End file.
